As recently as a few years ago, a combination of not everyone having a smartphone and lousy internet at sea made keeping your devices charged on a cruise a minor problem. Cruise ships often offered a single American and a single European outlet at the desk area.
This was sufficient to use a hair dryer or keep whatever limited devices passengers had charged. Cruise ships were not designed, at least until recently, for every person in the family to have a phone as well as perhaps a tablet, a Kindle, and maybe a laptop.
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A family of four on a cruise ship usually has more than four devices and keeping them charged is essential. That's because many cruise lines now use QR codes for menus and put their daily schedules on their apps.
Both Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) also have messaging services that allow families to keep in touch while at sea. Keeping devices charged can be a challenge on older ships that have limited outlets and USB ports.
Most people make up for the by bringing multi-plug devices with added USB and USB-C ports. That solves the problem, but Royal Caribbean recently shockingly banned any device that turns an outlet into multiple outlets. It also banned adapters that turn the European outlet into an American one.
You could never use power strips with surge protectors on cruise ships — those are a fire hazard due to how cruise ship electrical systems work — but regular multi-plug devices used to be allowed.
Now, Royal Caribbean only allows devices that give you extra USB and/or USB-C ports off a single outlet.
Image source: Daniel Kline/ComeCruiseWith.com
Carnival has some angry passengers
Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald takes a lot of abuse from angry passengers. He's often held accountable for decisions that he has no control over and sometimes, problems that are not real.
He recently shared one angry passenger's letter and his response on his Facebook page.
"Very infrequently do I get as angry as I am today Heald. Carnival Cruise Line have banned us from bringing on power strips and chargers. There has been no warning. I would not have known this if I had not been a member of the Carnival VIP Facebook group. Carnival has given us no advance warning. I am driving tomorrow to New Orleans to get on the Liberty. I am Platinum and am angry enough to cancel this cruise and take the hit," they wrote.
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Canceling seems extreme for a passenger driving to their cruise, given that any gas station would sell outlets that meet the Royal Caribbean standard for not adding plugs. The passenger also had a suggestion for how Carnival should fix this perceived problem.
"Why doesn’t Carnival do like ---- are doing and provide a standardized power strip in each stateroom that is acceptable to the cruise line with 4 charge units and USB outlets? My wife and son and me have 4 devices that need charging each night. This is insane," the passenger added.
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Carnival sets the record straight
"Thank you and once again this infamous Facebook page has provided you with the wrong information, no shock there. Anyway, you can bring a power strip. We have not changed our rules and, providing it does not have a surge protector and is in excellent working condition, then poop it into your carry on, mate, and bring it on board. I am sharing this with everyone in case anyone is misled by reading what is posted on that Facebook page," Heald wrote.
The Brand Ambassador also poked a little fun at the passenger's extreme stance and threat to cancel.
"And to cancel a cruise because you are angry, well that is a very high level of anger. I guess I don’t understand that at all. If I have an argument with my wife Heidi the worst thing I do is open a bottle of some condiment or sauce or packet of biscuits when there’s already one open," he added.
Many of Heald's followers jumped to Carnival's defense.
"If people would only not jump to conclusions and instead ask questions. It was RC that banned the power strip. The article went on to explain the reason and offered an alternative. It even said Carnival was NOT going to follow RC but was still ALLOWING the strip," shared Missi Brown.
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Over 1,000 people commented on the post and many worried about the mental health of the poster.
"LMAO 'I'm going to cancel my cruise because of power strips' is WILD. I guarantee this person gets road rage at least 15 times a week," added Michele Briggs Allen.
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